Socowave, an Irish technology start-up, has made a wireless technical breakthrough which is attracting the attention of global wireless infrastructure vendors. This breakthrough has the potential to transform how cellular network operators deliver video-rich services to mobile customers, in the future. 

Socowave’s pioneering active panel antenna (APA) technology will enable faster internet access for cellular users. In addition, this new technology will significantly reduce the wireless industry’s carbon footprint by enabling future networks to be designed with fewer base station sites. This will reduce base station electricity consumption by up to 50%. Socowave estimates that the new APA technology has an annual market potential of over €2 billion.

Joe Moore, who founded Socowave in 2008, today announced details of the radical technology in advance of a presentation to global infrastructure vendors and mobile network operators who are preparing to migrate to 4G networks (LTE & mobile WiMax).

Joe Moore, founder, Socowave

These networks are the next level of evolution in the field of wireless communications and will replace existing communication networks offering facilities such as voice, data and streamed multimedia to users on an "anytime, anywhere" basis and at much higher data transfer rates compared to current generations.

Socowave’s technology dramatically improves the quality of the wireless link between mobile user and cellular network and increases effective data rates by up to ten times. This improvement will reduce video upload and download times to/from the internet.

Joe Moore explained, “Socowave’s technology allows the network operator to provide ‘near fixed-line’ quality to mobile users. Before now, the network had no way of knowing where the user’s signal came from and therefore when service deteriorated, could not take corrective actions to improve the reception. Now, with users spread across an area, the network can actively optimise the wireless link to each user and do so even if they are all on-the-move and reception conditions are changing.”

Socowave, which is supported by Enterprise Ireland, is headquartered in NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at UCD. Its technical design centre is located at the National Software Centre, Cork. The technology underlying Socowave’s breakthrough is based upon a pioneering base station system architecture controlled digitally over fibre optic cable which incorporates some enabling technology licensed from NUI Maynooth and UCD.

Joe Moore has extensive senior management experience in the mobile telecoms arena, holding senior positions with companies such as Motorola and Sigma Wireless. In addition he has a proven track record of successfully pioneering growth technology businesses over the past 20 years.

ENDS

25 June 2009

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: +353 1 716 3712.

Editors Notes

Socowave founded by Joe Moore in 2008 is an R&D company committed to leading the drive towards Active Panel Antenna technology solutions which deliver real commercial benefits to its clients.

NovaUCD is University College Dublin’s Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre.  Twenty-five companies, including Socowave are currently based in NovaUCD. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx.